7 Answers

Honestly? I’d probably leave around 1pm. Maybe earlier. To be safe you need to get to Logan by 6:30 (only to find out your flight is delayed, I’m sure) because they’ll have super long security lines tonight. Two hours early is kind of a minimum at the holidays. The problem is that it means you need to hit Boston right at rush hour on TOP of holiday traffic making this one of the worst driving days of the year.

If you leave at 1, you’ll hopefully get there before rush hour, if you get caught up in AWFUL traffic it is okay, and you know—bring a book or whatever and read at the terminal. Getting to the airport early isn’t the end of the world. Getting there late is a problem.

Leave: 1pmish.
Allow: 1 hour in a traffic jam.
Arrive: 5:30ish.
Stand in line to check in: 6pm
Stand in line for security: Who knows? Hopefully less than an hour.
Arrive at gate at least an hour early. Get out packed dinner and eat.
Read book. Do the crossword. Do sudoku. Wish you didn’t get there so danged early. Wonder when you started acting like your mum about airports. Sigh.
Board flight.

This advice comes from my mom’s book of airport advice. She’s definitely of the “it doesn’t matter if you are three hours early, better than 1 minute late” variety.

I will also say that I went to DC one year to go to the Library of Congress with a friend on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. It was normally a 90 minute drive. It took us three hours to get home. I’ve been afraid to drive on this Wednesday ever since.

Oh! Sorry, I thought you were actually traveling. Well in that case, don’t worry about it NEARLY so much. Being late sucks, but you definitely can call them or whatever if you do run late. I’d probably leave maybe an hour or hour and a half earlier than normal. Also make sure you know the flight number so you can call ahead and find out if they are delayed. No sense leaving early only to find out they won’t be there for a while.

I mean, to some extent you’ll still be there early if there are no problems and possibly late if there are, but since you aren’t catching the plane, I wouldn’t stress about it nearly so much. If you want them to love you forever, bring a few bottles of water and some snacks for the car trip back. Someone did that when they picked me up once and it was amazing.

ALSO: You can check the traffic on Google maps to see how heavy it is on your route. If it looks normal, you might not need to leave early at all!